All terrain vehicles (ATVs) have been used for many years to allow their users to ride in the great outdoors especially in places having either no roads and rough terrain. As such, the rider may experience whatever the prevailing terrain offers and be subject to whatever the weather offers. Experiencing uneven terrain, wet ground conditions, heat and cold are just part of what one can expect when riding a ATV.
Whether the ATV has three wheels or four (QUAD) wheels, the rider is limited in the space available to place their depending feet when driving. Typically, this limited space consists of foot mount members, e.g.,the pedals or foot rests, protruding from the opposite lower sides of the ATV placed their by the manufacturer. Many foot mounts are rather small and shaped like cylindrically shaped rods with one end mounted to the ATV. As such, one or both of the user's feet can easily slip off these side foot mount members as the ATV experiences up/down and sideways movement on and over the underlying terrain. Moisture on the road and ATV only increase the probably that foot slippage will occur.
If two riders mount the same ATV, a practice usually discouraged, the rear mounted rider may have no foot rest at all giving them the choice of either extending their dangling feet away from the ATV or they may place them dangerously near the spinning rear wheel(s). Both positions of the second riders feet provide excellent opportunities for severe leg injuries.
In any event, experience clearly demonstrates there is a need for more foot space for the single rider and any passenger to rest their feet as the ATV, moves up or down, moves to either side or changes its velocity in a short time frame. Such an added foot rest must not only be durable enough to support the weight of each of the user's feet but also their total body weight should the rider stand on it while traversing over rough terrain. This added foot rest must also have a degree of flexibility to take into consideration any movement of the foot-peg (or foot pedal) and have sufficient surface area to accommodate the feet of the rider and any passenger.
These and other desirable characteristics are all incorporated into the present invention wherein two side foot rests for an ATV are disclosed that can be mounted to an existing ATV without using welding or bonding materials to attach the same to the ATV.